Utah judicial nominating commissions

Judicial nominating commissions
Individual nominating committees
Select a committee in the dropdown below and click "Submit" to view information about that committee. Alaska Judicial CouncilArizona Commission on Appellate Court AppointmentsArizona Commission on Judicial Performance ReviewArizona Judicial Nominating CommissionsCalifornia Commission on Judicial AppointmentsColorado Supreme Court Nominating CommissionConnecticut Judicial Selection CommissionDelaware Judicial Nominating CommissionDistrict of Columbia Judicial Nomination CommissionFlorida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating CommissionGeorgia Judicial Nominating CommissionHawaii Judicial Selection CommissionIndiana Judicial Nominating CommissionIowa Judicial Nominating CommissionKansas Supreme Court Nominating CommissionKentucky Judicial Nominating CommissionMaryland Appellate Courts Judicial Nominating CommissionMinnesota Commission on Judicial SelectionMissouri Appellate Judicial CommissionMontana Judicial Nominating CommissionNebraska Judicial Nominating CommissionsNevada Commission on Judicial SelectionNew Hampshire Judicial Selection CommissionState of New York Commission on Judicial NominationNorth Dakota Judicial Nominating CommitteeOklahoma Judicial Nominating CommissionRhode Island Judicial Nominating CommissionSouth Carolina Judicial Merit Selection CommissionSouth Dakota Judicial Qualifications CommissionTennessee Governor's Council for Judicial AppointmentsUtah Judicial Performance Evaluation CommissionUtah Appellate Judicial Nominating CommissionVermont Judicial Nominating BoardWest Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory CommissionWyoming Judicial Nominating CommissionSubmit
Methods of judicial selection
Partisan elections
Nonpartisan elections
Michigan method
Retention elections
Assisted appointment
Bar-controlled commission
Governor-controlled commission
Hybrid commission
Legislative elections
Gubernatorial appointment

The Utah judicial nominating commissions, taken together, are the agencies in Utah charged with recommending candidates for appointment to the district and juvenile courts in the state's eight judicial districts, as well as all appellate courts. In total, there are nine nominating commissions.

To read more about the statewide commission responsible for the state's appellate courts, click here.

The Utah Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice describes the commissions in the following way as of April 8, 2025:

“

Judicial nominating commissions help select candidates for judicial vacancies. There is a nominating commission for each judicial district, including the appellate courts. Each commission consists of seven commissioners appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term. Each commissioner must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Utah, and a resident of the judicial district the commission is representing. Commissioners may not be members of the state Legislature and may not serve successive terms.

”

Click here to see a list of commissions and commissioners. The judicial nominating commissions are separate from the Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, which publishes performance evaluations of judges standing for retention elections.

Control of judicial selection commissions

Assisted appointment is a method of judicial selection in which a nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.

At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types, based on the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions. Those types are:

• Governor-controlled commission - The governor is either responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission or may decline to appoint a candidate from a list provided by the nominating commission.
• Bar-controlled commission - Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the members of the nominating commission.
• Hybrid - There is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar Association. The membership of these commissions is determined by different rules in each state.

Twenty-three courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021. Utah used a governor-controlled commission. The table below shows the number of courts using each variation of assisted appointment at the state supreme court level.

Assisted appointment methods in state supreme courts
Method	Courts (of 23)
Governor-controlled majority	10
Bar-controlled majority	1
Hybrid	12

About judicial selection

Each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they select judges at the state and local level. These methods of selection are:

Election

• Partisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
• Nonpartisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.
• Michigan method: State supreme court justices are selected through nonpartisan elections preceded by either partisan primaries or conventions.
• Retention election: A periodic process whereby voters are asked whether an incumbent judge should remain in office for another term. Judges are not selected for initial terms in office using this election method.

Assisted appointment

• Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list. At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
  • Bar-controlled commission: Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees that they must choose from.
  • Governor-controlled commission: The governor is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees they must choose from.
  • Hybrid commission: The judicial nominating commission has no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has a clear majority control.

Direct appointment

• Court appointment: Judges are selected by judges in the state judiciary.
• Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
• Legislative election: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
• Municipal government selection: Judges are selected by the governing body of their municipality.

Click a state on the map below to explore judicial selection processes in that state.

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http://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_selection_in_STATE

See also

State courts	Appointment methods	Election methods
State supreme courts Intermediate appellate courts Trial courts	Assisted appointment Court appointment Gubernatorial appointment Legislative election Municipal government selection	Partisan election Nonpartisan election Michigan method

Footnotes

Utah courts

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Federal courts:

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Utah • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Utah

State courts:

Utah Supreme Court • Utah Court of Appeals • Utah District Courts • Utah Juvenile Courts • Utah Justice Courts

State resources:

Courts in Utah • Utah judicial elections • Judicial selection in Utah